-Witches:
I think that they are really witches that we know of. Witches are very unique and they seem to have special powers such as seeing the future. They were able to predict the future of Macbeth. Also, their personality seem to be really cranky and they are very vindictive. Most importantly, they seem to not like the humans so much. They are very against them. Moreover, they have superpowers such as disappearing and controlling the weather to make winds. In their physical appearance, they seem to be like the witch that we know of. They have witch kind of clothing and skinny lips. Thus, they are very evil in their actions. They are satisfied when people are severely hurt. They like seeing people in trouble.
-Macbeth:
Macbeth is the main character who is a thane. Also, it seems like that he will be the king of Scotland now. Macbeth deserves to be King because he is not very selfish, but he wants to support the country in better ways. Moreover, he is very consistent in his actions and he does not get excited and overreact in any kind of situation. Macbeth is very thoughtful man because he thinks about what might be the problem for him. Most importantly, he thinks about things so much that he does not really want to be king because he is so frightened by the thing that he does not really know of. Overall Macbeth is very calm for the most of the time.
-Banquo:
In this section, I think that we were able to learn a lot about Banquo than other characters. Banquo is very greedy for his life. He wants to have more than what he have right now. When he goes ask the witches about his prophecy, the witches tell him that Macbeth will receive better future than Banquo. Then Banquo was quite annoyed and he wanted to be better than Macbeth. Unlike other people, Banquo seems to like the witches and respect them. He is not very frightened by the witches who most people are scared of. Banquo wants something more than what he has right now. Also, he is very curious about other and most importantly, his future. He wants to know what will happen in the future that will affect him.
-Ross:
Ross did not appear a lot in this section. It seems like that Ross is a messenger, who always delivers things to the king. Most importantly, Ross is very loyal to the king, but he does not really state his opinion. He is just doing whatever the king is asking him to do. He does not really know about things that king talks about, but he still agrees what the king said.
-Angus:
There is not much part that Angus speaks, but we can see that he cares about his life. Angus says about the word rebel and he does not like people who rebels. One more thing that I can see that is Angus is a messenger to the king. I don't think that there were a lot of information about Angus in this Section.
Major Plot
-Banquo and Macbeth meets the witches and are surprised.
-The witches are looking for a revenge.
-Macbeth and Banquo both receive what will happen in the future.
-Banquo is very unsatisfied about his future.
-Macbeth receives better future than Banquo.
Conflict
-It seems like that there will be conflicts that will be created by Banquo who is currently jealous of Macbeth's future. When one sees someone's future as better future, the one would like to alter it and make a better future for that person. Therefore, I think that there will conflict between Banquo and Macbeth.
-There will be conflict between who will be the king of Scotland
-The conflicts are not yet really introduced; however the section of the novel foreshadows it.
Assignment 2
What do we learn about Lady Macbeth in these scenes?
We can see that Lady Macbeth is even more ambitious than the Macbeth. She wants Macbeth to be the King no matter what. Macbeth seems quite ambitious; however, Lady Macbeth is stimulating and basically trying to manipulate her husband to become the King. Also, it was not Macbeth who was thinking of murdering the King Duncan, it was mostly Lady Macbeth who was trying to the evil action. In the castle she even asked the evil to support her to the evil and villainous action to the king. Therefore, I can conclude that Lady Macbeth is very cruel and ambitious. (1.5.72)
How might Lady Macbeth answer the question “What is the meaning of life?” Explain your answer.
She is going to say that the meaning of life is to be the top of the hierarchy in life. As we can see that she is very ambitious to be the queen, she sees life as very hierarchy. Also, she would not probably say that life is meaningless. Also, her meaning of life is to do whatever she wants to do. If she becomes the queen, she is going to be able to manipulate a lot of things at ones; therefore, Lady Macbeth wants to be top in the world. (1.6.16)
Identify and write out two of Lady Macbeth’s lines that are particularly striking. Explain why you selected the lines.
"Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; Stop up th'access and passage to remorse, That no compunctions visitings of nature Shake m fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th'effect and it! (Shakespeare 1.5.42) "This night's great business into my dispatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom." (Shakespeare 1.5.68) I selected these two lines because they explain the cruelty of the Lady Macbeth. The first quote tells that Lady Macbeth is trying to be very evil to the King Duncan and the second quote tells us that she wants to put Macbeth was king no matter what. Therefore, it was very striking to hear what Lady Macbeth is going to do. Also, these two quotes described Lady Macbeth very well.
Identify one significant word that Lady Macbeth uses in 1.5 or 1.6, and define both the denotation and connotation of the word. Explain why you think the word is significant.
Beguile: "To beguile the time, Look like the time; beat welcome in your eye," (1.6.63)
Denotation: Charm or enchant, sometimes in a deceptive way.
Connotation: to spell, to curse, right now Lady Macbeth does not like the time, so she wants to enchant it or curse it.
Significance: This word is very significant because it tells how Lady Macbeth is very impatient and she wants to be the queen of Scotland as fast as she can in short amount of time.
Assignment 3
2. prepare for a graded discussion on the following question: "Why has Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1?"
-Macbeth wanted to get all this over with (1.7.1~1.7.5)
-Currently, in Act 1 the King trusts whatever Macbeth does; therefore it is good timing for Macbeth to kill the King (1.7.13~1.7.16)
-Macbeth could not control his ambitions in Act 1, so he wanted to kill the King quickly (1.7.25~1.7.28)
-The pressure that Lady Macbeth was putting on Macbeth was too harsh and Macbeth was not able to control it (1.7.38~1.7.43)
-There is also another pressure that Lady Macbeth is putting on Macbeth. The pressure that Lady Macbeth is giving to Macbeth seems very strong; therefore, Macbeth had to kill King Duncan sooner than later. (1.7.49~1.7.60)
-Macbeth was at last manipulated by Lady Macbeth and he had created an idea to kill with the servants (1.7.73~1.7.76)
-Macbeth is completely doing what Lady Macbeth wants him to do and he had lost his normal moral standards. It seems like he is going to murder the King because of his wife. (1.7.80~1.7.82)
-Macbeth was interested in what Lady Macbeth told him (1.6.70)
-Macbeth was very disappointed in what happened to his faith. He felt that he should deserve to be the next king; however Duncan planned to put his son as King. This made Macbeth very motivated and angry (1.4.48~1.4.53)
-The witches were giving the motivation that Macbeth will be the next King, so it made Macbeth to gain more ambition that would affect him to be the King quickly (1.3.71~1.3.79)
1. Your answer before the discussion.
"Why has Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1"
I think that Macbeth was too convinced by his wife. Also, Macbeth wanted to get over this problem by either killing the King or not killing the King. Also, as Lady Macbeth was convincing Macbeth, he was afraid and he was seriously changed after the conversation. One thing that Lady Macbeth said was that are you not a man. Therefore, Macbeth was sort of offended and maybe he wanted to kill the King to prove that he is a true man. Also, Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan because of the witches. If the witched did not tell that Macbeth was going to be the next king, Macbeth probably just got over it. However, when the witches told that Macbeth was going to be the king, he decided to be the King by killing King Duncan. Most importantly, Macbeth was not able to control his own ambition toward the action. Even though in the first part of Macbeth quote in Act 1 scene 7 Macbeth said that he is only having the ambition, he had changed to have more ambition because of his wife. Moreover, Macbeth was very convinced to kill the King sooner than later by Lady Macbeth. Therefore, Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1 due to his ambition, Lady Macbeth pressure, and the witches.
Assignment 4
How does Macbeth react to the killing of Duncan? Why does he react this way?
Macbeth feels really guilt of what he had done to the the King. Therefore, he had very scared reaction after he had killed the King. He is reacting this way because he is frightened that he will die in the same way as Duncan. The reaction of Macbeth can be shown from line 2.2.20. He was so scared that he did not even wipe out the blood that he killed Duncan with. Also, Macbeth is very frightened by the God who will punish Macbeth later.(2.2.27~2.2.30). He even asks for God's blessing when he murdered the King in line 2.2.31. Therefore, this demonstrates how Macbeth is worrying about the effect of the murder for his own future. Most importantly, Macbeth acts as if he was crazy and he heard things that other people was not able to hear (2.2.35). I was able to see that Macbeth has became very weak ever since the murder occurred. Macbeth is totally out of his control and he feels so guilty that he had lose his conscience. Thus, Macbeth reacts this way because he is scared of his own future and his guiltiness.
How does Lady Macbeth react to the killing of Duncan? Why does she react this way?
Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is very different. He sees that murdering of Duncan as nothing more than a normal civilian dead. As she says in line "That's a stupid things to say"(2.2.20). It was obvious that she did not care about the death of Duncan. She reacted as if she was very happy about the situation. However, Macbeth was very sorrow when King Duncan had died. Also, I was able to see that she reacted as if she was evil in line 2.2.30. She told Macbeth that he should not worry about the murder and she seemed very evil. She is reacting this way because she does not want her husband and herself to get caught by other people that they had murdered the King. Most importantly, Lady Macbeth did not feel any guilt when Macbeth murdered the King. Lady Macbeth was just trying to hide the evidence at lines 2.2.53~2.2.56. She thought that killing the King was the right thing to do for Macbeth. However, Macbeth thought it differently. She was doing all these evil actions because she wanted to hide the evidence and act as if she had not murdered the King.
Assignment 5
-Write a one sentence summary of each scene.
3.5: Hecate seems to be the leader of the three witches and he wants to punish Macbeth and the witches for what they had done. (Hecate is using magical power to do this action)
3.6: The other characters in the play are completely fooled by what Macbeth had planned and they think that Fleance, Malcolm, Donalbain, and Macduff are the treason of Scotland, which makes the other characters worship Macbeth.
-In 3.6, what suspicions does the Lord have about Macbeth?
The Lord think that Macbeth has gone insane. Also, the Lord knows that Macbeth is preparing war against other country, which Macduff is trying to have good relationship with. Then Lord notices something strange of Macbeth. Lord think that Macbeth is out of his control to attack other nations who Macduff is trying to be friendly with. The Lord thinks very suspicious about what happened in the dinner because Macbeth had pitied Duncan who is currently dead at this point. Also, the Lord had found that Macduff and Malcolm are together, which makes Macbeth to prepare for war. The Lord sees this action very suspicious and very strange because there is no reason for a war, but Macbeth wants to have war. While Macduff is trying to make a good relationship with different countries, Macbeth is trying to have war with them. Therefore, the Lord seems to know something that other people might not know very well.
What does Macbeth want in this scene?
In this scene Macbeth wanted to have a lot of things. First of all, he wanted to kill Macduff who will be in his way of being King. Also, he wanted to know the prophecy of his, which seemed very unfortunate for Macbeth. Most importantly, Macbeth wanted to have good advise from these witches and he wanted to talk to the apparition more than ones. Now Macbeth wanted to seize the town of Fife after talking to the witches who had told Macbeth the prophecies. In the last part of this scene, Macbeth mentioned that he will kill Macduff's children and wives along with him. Basically, Macbeth wants everyone killed who will be standing in front of his way of being a great King of Scotland.
What stands in his way?
Macbeth thinks that Macduff is standing in his way. The witches had told Macbeth the prophecy and the apparition told Macbeth that Macduff will be some kind of threat to Macbeth. Also, the apparitions said that thane of fife will be in Macbeth's way and Macbeth believes what they had told him, so he eventually wants to kill Macduff who is bothering him.
How does Macbeth attempt overcome the obstacles in his way?
Macbeth attempt to overcome the obstacles in his way because he wants to make the prophecy not true and make his heirs be the next King. It is just human nature. Even though one knows that something is going to happen, he or she is going to try to stop the prophecy somehow. Also, Macbeth wants to be King very safely without much of threats that are around him such as Banquo, Macduff, and Fleance. Macbeth seems to be frightened to be dead. Despite the fact that Macbeth was a brave thane, Macbeth wants to survive, which makes him want to overcome the obstacles in his way. Most importantly, Macbeth has such a strong ambition that he wants to just have no obstacles to reach to the point where he has all the power he wants.
What do the Witches want in this scene?
The Witches want to provoke Macbeth to do the evil things. Since Hecate told the Witches to punish Macbeth, it seems that the Witches are trying to fool Macbeth in their magical way. As Witches are telling more prophecy of the future, Macbeth seems to do the wrong things that normal people would not do. Therefore, the Witches main goal is lead Macbeth to the wrong direction so that he will fail by himself. This can connect to the first Act where the Witches told Macbeth the prophecy because as they told the prophecy, Macbeth did the wrong thing, which was to murder the King. Moreover, Witches desired to make Macbeth the King, but in a very cruel way.
Assignment 6
How has Macbeth transformed by the end of the play?
Macbeth transformed like a devil. Right after Macbeth has killed Duncan, Macbeth felt so guilty and he was very worried about what was going to happen to himself. However, Macbeth does not think about the murder anymore, instead he thinks that he is invincible and he is going to win Malcolm's troop alone. He is now more corrupt than ever. Therefore, Macbeth has transformed in cruelest way.
Two pieces of evidence
1.
"Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all!
Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane,
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:" (5.3.1~5.3.5)
2.
"I have almost forgot the taste of fears.
The time has been my senses would have cooled
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't. I have supped full with horrors;" (5.5.9~5.5.13)
Explanation and Analysis
1. Macbeth did not even care about his thanes leaving to different places. He has transformed to be more confident, then ever. He does not fear anything except Fleance, who is Banquo's son. Before Macbeth heard the prophecy, Macbeth was not very confident; however, he is so confident that he can fight Malcolm's troop alone. Also, in the first scene, Macbeth was questioning the witches and he was doubting them, but now he trusts the witches. It seems that Macbeth turned very similar to the witches. Most importantly Macbeth said, "I cannot taint with fear," this meant that he will be not scared of anything. However, after Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was very frightened and scared that he was going to die. Moreover, Macbeth said that every man who are born by woman will be not able to fight Macbeth and this stimulated Macbeth to be very confident and fearless in his actions. Therefore, the main transformation that Macbeth went through was from fear to confident.
2. This passage definitely demonstrates that Macbeth is insane and he does not have any fear. When Macbeth said that he has supped full with horrors, he meant that now he does not fear anything around him. Once, he was frightened by a lot of things around him such as Banquo, Fleance, Malcolm, and Macduff; however, Macbeth is so mentally disordered. Most importantly, Macbeth has lost his pure side of himself. It seems that Macbeth is willing to kill anyone that is going to stand in his way. Before, Macbeth thought about his guiltiness, but now he spilled so much blood that he is just trying to spill more blood. Therefore, the evilness has conquered his mind. Thus, Macbeth has just gave up going back to being pure and instead he chose to be the most evil person as he can.
Assignment 7
What is the main idea of the story?
The main idea of the story is corruption within power. Before Macbeth became the King of Scotland, he was very worthy thane, who accomplished many difficult tasks. However, Macbeth changed and he became very corrupted because of his ambition. In the middle of the noble, Macbeth became the King, but he did not become a very good King. He was very similar to a tyrant. This tells that one who has the ambition to get the power and does evil things such as murdering will not succeed as a powerful person. When Macbeth went against his will, he became insane and he did things that he usually did not do, such as, boasting with confidence. Also, another theme in the story is that if one person starts to murder many other people, he or she will keeping killing more and more. Therefore, after Macbeth murdered Duncan, Macbeth began to try to kill more people such as Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff. Thus, if one goes against his or her judgment, he or she will always corrupt and if one starts to murder many people, he or she will keep murdering and do evil things.
Textual Evidence:
Before Macbeth begin murdering:
"The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part is to receive our duties; and our duties Are to your throne and state children and servants," (1.4.22~1.4.25)
After Macbeth murders many people:
"I have almost forgot the taste of fears. The time has been my senses would have cooled To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir" (5.5.9~5.5.12)
What can we learn from these characters? Select one or two characters and explain your answer.
From Macbeth, we can learn that going against one's judgment is not a good thing to do. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth planned to kill King Duncan and this was mostly Lady Macbeth's decision. Therefore, Macbeth had to go against his will to murder King Duncan. After, Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was not able to overcome the guiltiness that he felt. Therefore, I was able to learn that after going against one's will, he or she will have difficult time to come back from the poor decision. Also, another thing that I learned from Macbeth was that ambition was a very powerful thing that makes people do the wrong things. Before, Macbeth had the ambition to murder King Duncan, he was very normal and had peaceful life. However, after Macbeth had the ambition from the witches' prophecy, Macbeth went insane and wanted the power that Duncan had. Moreover, Macbeth taught us that people have to be able to control their ambition very well in order to succeed.
Textual Evidence:
"I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not." (2.2.53~2.2.55)
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather Th multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red." (2.2.64~2.2.66)
Do you see recurring images, words, deeds, situations, consequences, mistakes? Select two items from the preceding list and give examples from the play.
Yes, I see reoccurring images and mistakes. In Act 2, Macbeth murdered King Duncan, which gave an image of Macbeth killing Duncan. Then Macbeth later asks the murderers to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance. Therefore, I was able to image the same picture of someone being murdered very often. In the play, Macbeth, there was murder everywhere because Duncan, Banquo, and Macbeth all died from other people. This demonstrates that there were a lot of images about death.
Textual Evidence:
"I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell." (2.1.63~2.1.65)
"Oh treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge.---Oh, slave! (3.3.23~3.3.24)
Other than images, I also saw mistakes. Macbeth kept on making the same mistakes as before, which was believing in the witches. Sine Macbeth believed in the witches, he murdered Duncan. Most importantly, when witches appeared again in Act 4, Macbeth gained so much confidence than before, which eventually made him fail. Therefore, it was not very wise to trust the witches who fooled Macbeth.
Textual Evidence:
"Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!" (1.3.67~1.3.68)
"Where are they? Gone? Let this pernicious hour Stand aye accursed in the calendar! Come in, without there! (4.1.133~4.1.135)
Assignment 1
Characters
-Witches:
I think that they are really witches that we know of. Witches are very unique and they seem to have special powers such as seeing the future. They were able to predict the future of Macbeth. Also, their personality seem to be really cranky and they are very vindictive. Most importantly, they seem to not like the humans so much. They are very against them. Moreover, they have superpowers such as disappearing and controlling the weather to make winds. In their physical appearance, they seem to be like the witch that we know of. They have witch kind of clothing and skinny lips. Thus, they are very evil in their actions. They are satisfied when people are severely hurt. They like seeing people in trouble.
-Macbeth:
Macbeth is the main character who is a thane. Also, it seems like that he will be the king of Scotland now. Macbeth deserves to be King because he is not very selfish, but he wants to support the country in better ways. Moreover, he is very consistent in his actions and he does not get excited and overreact in any kind of situation. Macbeth is very thoughtful man because he thinks about what might be the problem for him. Most importantly, he thinks about things so much that he does not really want to be king because he is so frightened by the thing that he does not really know of. Overall Macbeth is very calm for the most of the time.
-Banquo:
In this section, I think that we were able to learn a lot about Banquo than other characters. Banquo is very greedy for his life. He wants to have more than what he have right now. When he goes ask the witches about his prophecy, the witches tell him that Macbeth will receive better future than Banquo. Then Banquo was quite annoyed and he wanted to be better than Macbeth. Unlike other people, Banquo seems to like the witches and respect them. He is not very frightened by the witches who most people are scared of. Banquo wants something more than what he has right now. Also, he is very curious about other and most importantly, his future. He wants to know what will happen in the future that will affect him.
-Ross:
Ross did not appear a lot in this section. It seems like that Ross is a messenger, who always delivers things to the king. Most importantly, Ross is very loyal to the king, but he does not really state his opinion. He is just doing whatever the king is asking him to do. He does not really know about things that king talks about, but he still agrees what the king said.
-Angus:
There is not much part that Angus speaks, but we can see that he cares about his life. Angus says about the word rebel and he does not like people who rebels. One more thing that I can see that is Angus is a messenger to the king. I don't think that there were a lot of information about Angus in this Section.
Major Plot
-Banquo and Macbeth meets the witches and are surprised.
-The witches are looking for a revenge.
-Macbeth and Banquo both receive what will happen in the future.
-Banquo is very unsatisfied about his future.
-Macbeth receives better future than Banquo.
Conflict
-It seems like that there will be conflicts that will be created by Banquo who is currently jealous of Macbeth's future. When one sees someone's future as better future, the one would like to alter it and make a better future for that person. Therefore, I think that there will conflict between Banquo and Macbeth.
-There will be conflict between who will be the king of Scotland
-The conflicts are not yet really introduced; however the section of the novel foreshadows it.
Assignment 2
- What do we learn about Lady Macbeth in these scenes?
We can see that Lady Macbeth is even more ambitious than the Macbeth. She wants Macbeth to be the King no matter what. Macbeth seems quite ambitious; however, Lady Macbeth is stimulating and basically trying to manipulate her husband to become the King. Also, it was not Macbeth who was thinking of murdering the King Duncan, it was mostly Lady Macbeth who was trying to the evil action. In the castle she even asked the evil to support her to the evil and villainous action to the king. Therefore, I can conclude that Lady Macbeth is very cruel and ambitious. (1.5.72)- How might Lady Macbeth answer the question “What is the meaning of life?” Explain your answer.
She is going to say that the meaning of life is to be the top of the hierarchy in life. As we can see that she is very ambitious to be the queen, she sees life as very hierarchy. Also, she would not probably say that life is meaningless. Also, her meaning of life is to do whatever she wants to do. If she becomes the queen, she is going to be able to manipulate a lot of things at ones; therefore, Lady Macbeth wants to be top in the world. (1.6.16)- Identify and write out two of Lady Macbeth’s lines that are particularly striking. Explain why you selected the lines.
"Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; Stop up th'access and passage to remorse, That no compunctions visitings of nature Shake m fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th'effect and it! (Shakespeare 1.5.42) "This night's great business into my dispatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom." (Shakespeare 1.5.68) I selected these two lines because they explain the cruelty of the Lady Macbeth. The first quote tells that Lady Macbeth is trying to be very evil to the King Duncan and the second quote tells us that she wants to put Macbeth was king no matter what. Therefore, it was very striking to hear what Lady Macbeth is going to do. Also, these two quotes described Lady Macbeth very well.- Identify one significant word that Lady Macbeth uses in 1.5 or 1.6, and define both the denotation and connotation of the word. Explain why you think the word is significant.
Beguile: "To beguile the time, Look like the time; beat welcome in your eye," (1.6.63)Denotation: Charm or enchant, sometimes in a deceptive way.
Connotation: to spell, to curse, right now Lady Macbeth does not like the time, so she wants to enchant it or curse it.
Significance: This word is very significant because it tells how Lady Macbeth is very impatient and she wants to be the queen of Scotland as fast as she can in short amount of time.
Assignment 3
2. prepare for a graded discussion on the following question: "Why has Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1?"
-Macbeth wanted to get all this over with (1.7.1~1.7.5)
-Currently, in Act 1 the King trusts whatever Macbeth does; therefore it is good timing for Macbeth to kill the King (1.7.13~1.7.16)
-Macbeth could not control his ambitions in Act 1, so he wanted to kill the King quickly (1.7.25~1.7.28)
-The pressure that Lady Macbeth was putting on Macbeth was too harsh and Macbeth was not able to control it (1.7.38~1.7.43)
-There is also another pressure that Lady Macbeth is putting on Macbeth. The pressure that Lady Macbeth is giving to Macbeth seems very strong; therefore, Macbeth had to kill King Duncan sooner than later. (1.7.49~1.7.60)
-Macbeth was at last manipulated by Lady Macbeth and he had created an idea to kill with the servants (1.7.73~1.7.76)
-Macbeth is completely doing what Lady Macbeth wants him to do and he had lost his normal moral standards. It seems like he is going to murder the King because of his wife. (1.7.80~1.7.82)
-Macbeth was interested in what Lady Macbeth told him (1.6.70)
-Macbeth was very disappointed in what happened to his faith. He felt that he should deserve to be the next king; however Duncan planned to put his son as King. This made Macbeth very motivated and angry (1.4.48~1.4.53)
-The witches were giving the motivation that Macbeth will be the next King, so it made Macbeth to gain more ambition that would affect him to be the King quickly (1.3.71~1.3.79)
1. Your answer before the discussion.
"Why has Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1"
I think that Macbeth was too convinced by his wife. Also, Macbeth wanted to get over this problem by either killing the King or not killing the King. Also, as Lady Macbeth was convincing Macbeth, he was afraid and he was seriously changed after the conversation. One thing that Lady Macbeth said was that are you not a man. Therefore, Macbeth was sort of offended and maybe he wanted to kill the King to prove that he is a true man. Also, Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan because of the witches. If the witched did not tell that Macbeth was going to be the next king, Macbeth probably just got over it. However, when the witches told that Macbeth was going to be the king, he decided to be the King by killing King Duncan. Most importantly, Macbeth was not able to control his own ambition toward the action. Even though in the first part of Macbeth quote in Act 1 scene 7 Macbeth said that he is only having the ambition, he had changed to have more ambition because of his wife. Moreover, Macbeth was very convinced to kill the King sooner than later by Lady Macbeth. Therefore, Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan by the end of Act 1 due to his ambition, Lady Macbeth pressure, and the witches.
Assignment 4
- How does Macbeth react to the killing of Duncan? Why does he react this way?
Macbeth feels really guilt of what he had done to the the King. Therefore, he had very scared reaction after he had killed the King. He is reacting this way because he is frightened that he will die in the same way as Duncan. The reaction of Macbeth can be shown from line 2.2.20. He was so scared that he did not even wipe out the blood that he killed Duncan with. Also, Macbeth is very frightened by the God who will punish Macbeth later.(2.2.27~2.2.30). He even asks for God's blessing when he murdered the King in line 2.2.31. Therefore, this demonstrates how Macbeth is worrying about the effect of the murder for his own future. Most importantly, Macbeth acts as if he was crazy and he heard things that other people was not able to hear (2.2.35). I was able to see that Macbeth has became very weak ever since the murder occurred. Macbeth is totally out of his control and he feels so guilty that he had lose his conscience. Thus, Macbeth reacts this way because he is scared of his own future and his guiltiness.- How does Lady Macbeth react to the killing of Duncan? Why does she react this way?
Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is very different. He sees that murdering of Duncan as nothing more than a normal civilian dead. As she says in line "That's a stupid things to say"(2.2.20). It was obvious that she did not care about the death of Duncan. She reacted as if she was very happy about the situation. However, Macbeth was very sorrow when King Duncan had died. Also, I was able to see that she reacted as if she was evil in line 2.2.30. She told Macbeth that he should not worry about the murder and she seemed very evil. She is reacting this way because she does not want her husband and herself to get caught by other people that they had murdered the King. Most importantly, Lady Macbeth did not feel any guilt when Macbeth murdered the King. Lady Macbeth was just trying to hide the evidence at lines 2.2.53~2.2.56. She thought that killing the King was the right thing to do for Macbeth. However, Macbeth thought it differently. She was doing all these evil actions because she wanted to hide the evidence and act as if she had not murdered the King.Assignment 5
-Write a one sentence summary of each scene.
3.5: Hecate seems to be the leader of the three witches and he wants to punish Macbeth and the witches for what they had done. (Hecate is using magical power to do this action)
3.6: The other characters in the play are completely fooled by what Macbeth had planned and they think that Fleance, Malcolm, Donalbain, and Macduff are the treason of Scotland, which makes the other characters worship Macbeth.
-In 3.6, what suspicions does the Lord have about Macbeth?
The Lord think that Macbeth has gone insane. Also, the Lord knows that Macbeth is preparing war against other country, which Macduff is trying to have good relationship with. Then Lord notices something strange of Macbeth. Lord think that Macbeth is out of his control to attack other nations who Macduff is trying to be friendly with. The Lord thinks very suspicious about what happened in the dinner because Macbeth had pitied Duncan who is currently dead at this point. Also, the Lord had found that Macduff and Malcolm are together, which makes Macbeth to prepare for war. The Lord sees this action very suspicious and very strange because there is no reason for a war, but Macbeth wants to have war. While Macduff is trying to make a good relationship with different countries, Macbeth is trying to have war with them. Therefore, the Lord seems to know something that other people might not know very well.
- What does Macbeth want in this scene?
In this scene Macbeth wanted to have a lot of things. First of all, he wanted to kill Macduff who will be in his way of being King. Also, he wanted to know the prophecy of his, which seemed very unfortunate for Macbeth. Most importantly, Macbeth wanted to have good advise from these witches and he wanted to talk to the apparition more than ones. Now Macbeth wanted to seize the town of Fife after talking to the witches who had told Macbeth the prophecies. In the last part of this scene, Macbeth mentioned that he will kill Macduff's children and wives along with him. Basically, Macbeth wants everyone killed who will be standing in front of his way of being a great King of Scotland.- What stands in his way?
Macbeth thinks that Macduff is standing in his way. The witches had told Macbeth the prophecy and the apparition told Macbeth that Macduff will be some kind of threat to Macbeth. Also, the apparitions said that thane of fife will be in Macbeth's way and Macbeth believes what they had told him, so he eventually wants to kill Macduff who is bothering him.- How does Macbeth attempt overcome the obstacles in his way?
Macbeth attempt to overcome the obstacles in his way because he wants to make the prophecy not true and make his heirs be the next King. It is just human nature. Even though one knows that something is going to happen, he or she is going to try to stop the prophecy somehow. Also, Macbeth wants to be King very safely without much of threats that are around him such as Banquo, Macduff, and Fleance. Macbeth seems to be frightened to be dead. Despite the fact that Macbeth was a brave thane, Macbeth wants to survive, which makes him want to overcome the obstacles in his way. Most importantly, Macbeth has such a strong ambition that he wants to just have no obstacles to reach to the point where he has all the power he wants.- What do the Witches want in this scene?
The Witches want to provoke Macbeth to do the evil things. Since Hecate told the Witches to punish Macbeth, it seems that the Witches are trying to fool Macbeth in their magical way. As Witches are telling more prophecy of the future, Macbeth seems to do the wrong things that normal people would not do. Therefore, the Witches main goal is lead Macbeth to the wrong direction so that he will fail by himself. This can connect to the first Act where the Witches told Macbeth the prophecy because as they told the prophecy, Macbeth did the wrong thing, which was to murder the King. Moreover, Witches desired to make Macbeth the King, but in a very cruel way.Assignment 6
How has Macbeth transformed by the end of the play?
Macbeth transformed like a devil. Right after Macbeth has killed Duncan, Macbeth felt so guilty and he was very worried about what was going to happen to himself. However, Macbeth does not think about the murder anymore, instead he thinks that he is invincible and he is going to win Malcolm's troop alone. He is now more corrupt than ever. Therefore, Macbeth has transformed in cruelest way.
Two pieces of evidence
1.
"Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all!
Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane,
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:" (5.3.1~5.3.5)
2.
"I have almost forgot the taste of fears.
The time has been my senses would have cooled
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't. I have supped full with horrors;" (5.5.9~5.5.13)
Explanation and Analysis
1. Macbeth did not even care about his thanes leaving to different places. He has transformed to be more confident, then ever. He does not fear anything except Fleance, who is Banquo's son. Before Macbeth heard the prophecy, Macbeth was not very confident; however, he is so confident that he can fight Malcolm's troop alone. Also, in the first scene, Macbeth was questioning the witches and he was doubting them, but now he trusts the witches. It seems that Macbeth turned very similar to the witches. Most importantly Macbeth said, "I cannot taint with fear," this meant that he will be not scared of anything. However, after Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was very frightened and scared that he was going to die. Moreover, Macbeth said that every man who are born by woman will be not able to fight Macbeth and this stimulated Macbeth to be very confident and fearless in his actions. Therefore, the main transformation that Macbeth went through was from fear to confident.
2. This passage definitely demonstrates that Macbeth is insane and he does not have any fear. When Macbeth said that he has supped full with horrors, he meant that now he does not fear anything around him. Once, he was frightened by a lot of things around him such as Banquo, Fleance, Malcolm, and Macduff; however, Macbeth is so mentally disordered. Most importantly, Macbeth has lost his pure side of himself. It seems that Macbeth is willing to kill anyone that is going to stand in his way. Before, Macbeth thought about his guiltiness, but now he spilled so much blood that he is just trying to spill more blood. Therefore, the evilness has conquered his mind. Thus, Macbeth has just gave up going back to being pure and instead he chose to be the most evil person as he can.
Assignment 7
- What is the main idea of the story?
The main idea of the story is corruption within power. Before Macbeth became the King of Scotland, he was very worthy thane, who accomplished many difficult tasks. However, Macbeth changed and he became very corrupted because of his ambition. In the middle of the noble, Macbeth became the King, but he did not become a very good King. He was very similar to a tyrant. This tells that one who has the ambition to get the power and does evil things such as murdering will not succeed as a powerful person. When Macbeth went against his will, he became insane and he did things that he usually did not do, such as, boasting with confidence. Also, another theme in the story is that if one person starts to murder many other people, he or she will keeping killing more and more. Therefore, after Macbeth murdered Duncan, Macbeth began to try to kill more people such as Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff. Thus, if one goes against his or her judgment, he or she will always corrupt and if one starts to murder many people, he or she will keep murdering and do evil things.Textual Evidence:
Before Macbeth begin murdering:
"The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part is to receive our duties; and our duties Are to your throne and state children and servants," (1.4.22~1.4.25)
After Macbeth murders many people:
"I have almost forgot the taste of fears. The time has been my senses would have cooled To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir" (5.5.9~5.5.12)
- What can we learn from these characters? Select one or two characters and explain your answer.
From Macbeth, we can learn that going against one's judgment is not a good thing to do. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth planned to kill King Duncan and this was mostly Lady Macbeth's decision. Therefore, Macbeth had to go against his will to murder King Duncan. After, Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was not able to overcome the guiltiness that he felt. Therefore, I was able to learn that after going against one's will, he or she will have difficult time to come back from the poor decision. Also, another thing that I learned from Macbeth was that ambition was a very powerful thing that makes people do the wrong things. Before, Macbeth had the ambition to murder King Duncan, he was very normal and had peaceful life. However, after Macbeth had the ambition from the witches' prophecy, Macbeth went insane and wanted the power that Duncan had. Moreover, Macbeth taught us that people have to be able to control their ambition very well in order to succeed.Textual Evidence:
"I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not." (2.2.53~2.2.55)
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather Th multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red." (2.2.64~2.2.66)
- Do you see recurring images, words, deeds, situations, consequences, mistakes? Select two items from the preceding list and give examples from the play.
Yes, I see reoccurring images and mistakes. In Act 2, Macbeth murdered King Duncan, which gave an image of Macbeth killing Duncan. Then Macbeth later asks the murderers to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance. Therefore, I was able to image the same picture of someone being murdered very often. In the play, Macbeth, there was murder everywhere because Duncan, Banquo, and Macbeth all died from other people. This demonstrates that there were a lot of images about death.Textual Evidence:
"I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell." (2.1.63~2.1.65)
"Oh treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge.---Oh, slave! (3.3.23~3.3.24)
Other than images, I also saw mistakes. Macbeth kept on making the same mistakes as before, which was believing in the witches. Sine Macbeth believed in the witches, he murdered Duncan. Most importantly, when witches appeared again in Act 4, Macbeth gained so much confidence than before, which eventually made him fail. Therefore, it was not very wise to trust the witches who fooled Macbeth.
Textual Evidence:
"Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!" (1.3.67~1.3.68)
"Where are they? Gone? Let this pernicious hour Stand aye accursed in the calendar! Come in, without there! (4.1.133~4.1.135)